NC Dinos’ Kim Hyung-joon exploded a home run with three consecutive at-bats, leading his team to escape 11 consecutive losses.
NC ended its 11-game losing streak with an 8-2 victory over the Hanwha Eagles in the 2024 Shinhan SOL Bank KBO League held at Cheongju Baseball Stadium in North Chungcheong Province on Sunday. NC, which had fallen to the bottom due to defeat on the previous day, marked 50 wins, two draws and 62 losses overall in the season and returned to ninth place in a day. Kim Hyung-joon, who started as catcher and eighth hitter on the day, exploded three home runs, five RBIs and three runs from four times at bat, driving his team to escape consecutive losses.
Kim Hyung-joon, who was out after hitting a fly ball to left field in his first batter’s box, hit a solo home run over the right fence in the top of the fifth inning when his team was leading 2-0, by hitting Lee Sang-kyu’s fastball 146 km/h on four pitches with 1-2 strikes. It was his 14th home run of this season.
Then, he hit consecutive homeruns in the top of the sixth inning, when his performance was 4-0. With runners on the second and third bases with two outs, Kim Hyung-joon hit Jang Si-hwan’s 118km/h curve with the ball count 1-1, and this time he exploded a three-run over the left fence. It was Kim Hyung-joon’s 15th homer of this season, and his second consecutive homeruns in his career. The score was even wider, 7-0.
NCs last point was also a homerun by Kim Hyung-joon. With no runners on base with one out, Kim hit a solo homer over the fence by hitting Hwang Joon-seos high five-pitch 123km/h folk ball, marking his first three-base hit.
Kim Hyung-joon’s three homers in the first game since his debut. It was his fourth consecutive homer in eight years at NC after Eric Thames and Na Sung-bum in 2015 and Thames in 2016. NC, which widened the score thanks to Kim Hyung-joon’s homer, kept its lead and secured victory. The following is a Q&A session with Kim after the game. 스포츠토토
